FILE - Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld (7) warms up on the field before the NCAA football game against University of Missouri in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, September 21, 2013.

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Say this for the Indiana Hoosiers: When pushed to the edge of a cliff, they manage to land in the water and not crash on the shore.

To become eligible for their first bowl game since 2007, they absolutely, positively had to beat Bowling Green and Penn State at home. And they did.

A similar scenario looms in Saturday's homecoming game against Minnesota. For the 3-4 Hoosiers to retain plausible bowl hopes, they have to beat a ground-and-pound Gophers team coming off successive upsets of Northwestern and Nebraska. ...